I am always on the lookout for new ingredients, so when I came across rambutans at the grocery store I knew I had to make a cocktail with them. These prickly looking fruit hide a sweet center that isn’t unlike lychee in taste and texture. For this cocktail I wanted to capture the light taste of the rambutan while still having a lot of flavor. To prepare the rambutan you’ll need to cut around the center and remove the white fruit from inside the spiny-looking rind and then remove the pit from inside the fruit. This took a little time with a paring knife, but wasn’t too difficult.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Redemption Rye
- 2 rambutans
- 1/4 oz St Germain
- 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
-Start by muddling the rambutans in a shaker or mixing glass.
-Add the Rye, St Germain, and Maraschino. St Germain tends to be overbearing, I started adding 1/2 oz but this overpowered the rambutan flavors, so I suggest 1/4 oz or less. The same can be said for the maraschino.
-Shake with ice, strain into a glass, and garnish with a berry, in this case I used blackberries.
I liked the paring of maraschino and the rambutans, it brought out the fullest flavor of the fruit that could otherwise stay too light in the background. You can experiment with other flavors other than elderflower as well, by substituting other cordials for St Germain. If you make this leave a comment with your own personalizations!
